Please help me out

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Lee
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Please help me out

Post by Lee »

Im writing a fiction story about two groups, one who do evil, and one who prevent evil, and ive named them both in Latin.
I would really appreciate it if someone would confirm for me if i got the translation right.

Group one are called DILUO PRAVUS. I think this means 'To remove evil'

Group Two are called MALIGO-ARE. I think this means 'to do/contrive evil'

If anyone can help me out please do! I'd be really greatful.

vinobrien
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Post by vinobrien »

Hmmm. Diluo is I dissolve or separate or, figuratively, I wash away (troubles). Pravus, from which we get "depraved", means crooked as well as perverse. It's nominative so the phrase means: I, a pervert, dissolve.

Maligo is "I contrive evil". Maligare is its infinitive form. Maligo is also the name of a language spoken in Angola (not helpful, perhaps)

So it's Latin, Jim, but not as we know it 8) .

If you want something like full-fat Latin, an evil doer is "malefactor", plural "malefactores", or "malefici" which just means "evil ones". For protectors you could use "tutores" or "praesides".

Lee
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Post by Lee »

Thanx for getting back to me, and those name suggestions are actually pretty cool.
I thought it through and the 'bad group' really wudnt refer to themselves as 'evil ones'. Yeah, they know they're evil and revel in it, but they're too big-headed and self proud to refer to themselves as something so simple.
Also, the 'good group' are too modest to refer to themselves as protectors. They just want to remove evil and see themselves as nothing grand.

SOOO to get to the point, is there anyone who can help me get the right translation for these words? Or something very similar to what im after?

"To do evil" "To remove evil"

Thanks!!!!

annis
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Post by annis »

vinobrien wrote: It's nominative so the phrase means: I, a pervert, dissolve.
:shock:

So very, very badly do I now want a t-shirt that says that on it!

I'm laughing so hard right now I'm crying.

From now on this my example of nominative adjectives agreeing with an implicit subject!

(Lee, it's the English of vinobrien's literally phrased translation that has sent me over the edge, not your question. But on to that...)

The Latin dictionary you used to construct these conventionally gives the forms conjugated in the first person. So Diluo is "I dissolve" even though the definition might look like it means "to disolve." So, beware of the dictionary!

"To do evil" is probably best "malum facere." Keeping diluo, "malum diluere" is "to dissolve/get rid of evil." I'm mostly a Greek guy, so other Latinists might have more idiomatic verbs to suggest. But note that these are phrases, not really names.

--
a pervert, dissolving

vinobrien
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Post by vinobrien »

There's no pervert like a dissolving one, I always say.

Anyway, how about simply constructing nouns from the verbs:

malignantes or malignatores
dilventes or dilvetores

Without going into a long and tedious discussion, let's just say that v's and u's can sometimes be written instead of one another and I think that a v in these cases would be less distracting to a modern reader.

Hope this helps.

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benissimus
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Post by benissimus »

Shouldn't it be "dilutores"?
flebile nescio quid queritur lyra, flebile lingua murmurat exanimis, respondent flebile ripae

Lee
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Post by Lee »

Thank you sooo much annis for translating for me!
I know, I know. What i asked for sound more like phrases then names, but i thought it would just work better when said in Latin.

Thanks to you too Vino, for the suggestions. Though i might not use them for the main name of the groups, It could be like an alternative street name or something like that. I could go into a big discussion about groups of today having more then one name, but i wont.

What i will do though, is ask; does anyone else know other ways to say

"To do/perform evil" "To remove/dissolve evil"

or something similar? Im trying to build a list of phrases so i can choose the best names from the bunch. If anyone can help me out, thanks a lot!

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benissimus
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Post by benissimus »

peccare is to sin/do wrong
transgredi is to go over to the other side, i.e. betray
delinquere is to commit a crime
scelerare is to defile -> scelestus and sceleratus mean wicked
nefarius means criminal
errare is to wander/stray/err, i.e. stray from what is right
flebile nescio quid queritur lyra, flebile lingua murmurat exanimis, respondent flebile ripae

Lee
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confirm?

Post by Lee »

I recently did some more research and found the word

'Malevolentia' which i came to understand meant 'malevolence, malice, evil'.

The translation seems kind of obvious, but can anyone confirm? If you've been reading my translations lately, you'd know the kinda mistakes i make!

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benissimus
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Post by benissimus »

Right. You break it up into male- (from malum evil) volentia (from volens - present participle of volo to wish). So, literally, wishing evil/badly.
flebile nescio quid queritur lyra, flebile lingua murmurat exanimis, respondent flebile ripae

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